Lordi - Monstereophonic (Theaterror Vs. Demonarchy)

Of course and it is not the easiest thing to take LORDI for serious. I mean, seeing a Metal band entering the Eurovision contest takes away the Metal out of the equation, right? You see, by default, metalheads tend to gravitate away from bands the moment those become economically successful or simply when their popularity goes well-beyond the underground. Although I cannot argue with this instinct (there are so many examples to support this), I can definitely see some exceptions. Before going forth and enlisting LORDI to this exemption category, I have to dig really deep to their latest LP “Monstereophonic (Theaterror Vs. Demonarchy)” which has a rather bizarre concept.

You see, the album is split into two parts, according to the band’s claims. The first side serves the hunger for the trademark LORDI songwriting which is mainly based on catchy melodies, foot-tapping grooves and occasionally 80s Pop(y) finishing touches which you can blame the keyboards for. Yeah, one can immediately brand these as radio-friendly or even club-friendly music (are there still Metal clubs out there?) and no one would have a strong case against you. Still, songs like the anti-He Man “Let's Go Slaughter He-Man (I Wanna Be The Beast-Man In The Masters Of The Universe)” with the nice bass sound, the kind of modern riff-based “Hug You Hardcore” or the '80s-horror movie soundtrack type “Down With The Devil” go down (no pun intended) nicely with the focus being on “having a nice time listening” like if they are songs-fit-for-a-party. Yeah, the heavier ones “Sick Flick” and the riff-driven “Non For One” (yeah, the chorus is cheesy) are also very good and fit perfectly LORDI’s musical character.

So far so good, as far as the first part of this concept is concerned, but there is huge question mark for the second one. And this where things take a turn for the best, if you’d ask me. You see, things get serious starting with “Demonarchy” where the fluffy side goes down the drain leaving the evil side to take over. Ok, I may be overselling this but the faster tempo with the aggressive riff and the darker sounding keyboards shed the having-fun skin to reveal the real monsters. You may even find some King Diamond (of the “House Of God” era) hiding behind the keyboards and the nice guitar phrases in “The Unholy Gathering” and the hard-to-miss leads in the background of “And The Zombie Says” that is most probably the heavier piece. This 80s-horror aesthetics also have a touch of ALICE COOPER as this is highlighted with the moody clean guitar part of “Break Of Dawn” which soon enough gets on the more modern side as soon as the full distortion kicks. Still, the result comes out awesome and by comparison way better than the first part of the album. And speaking of old-horror or even fantasy themed songs then I should not leave the album closer “The Night The Monsters Died” without a special citation for the keyboard intro that breathes some “Stranger Things” (the TV series)atmosphere before getting back to LORDI’s universe.

I have no idea if this concept is the bridge connecting the old with the new LORDI, but if it was, I would be happy to stand on the latter side with the longer in time duration songs, diverse song-writing and multiple layers that go beyond the otherwise enjoyable catchy and easy to remember tunes. Maybe this is about the time to take these monsters more seriously...